India’s pharmaceutical exports can cross $20 billion by 2020

India’s pharmaceutical exports can cross $20 billion by 2020 even though the value of shipments to countries including the US have been hit, an industry body said.

This is due to increasing interest from neighbouring countries, including China, on which India has been heavily dependent for crucial ingredients for its formulations.

However, the local industry needs to focus on strengthening its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) business in addition to manufacturing generic formulations to achieve this goal, he said. An API is that part of a drug that produces its therapeutic effects.
India’s pharma exports grew 2.91% to $17.27 billion in 2017-18, according to the council.

“If (Indian pharma companies) focus on that, certainly (exports are) going to be more than $20 billion by 2020”. “This is a reasonable and practical figure.”China is a major supplier of APIs globally. At the same time, some Chinese formulation makers are showing increasing interest in importing APIs from India.

India’s pharma exports to China increased 44% to $182.67 million in 2017-18, latest data from the council shows. A majority of these exports to China were APIs, said Bhaskar, adding that the increase in exports, though small, was because the country was upgrading some of its manufacturing facilities.

India’s pharma exports to the US and North America, which contribute to over 30% of the country’s outbound shipments, dropped in 2017-18.

The value of exports to the US fell 8.35% to $5,114.70 million due to factors like price erosion and consolidation and cartelisation of major drug distributors in the region, which has given them “tremendous negotiating power to bargain,”.